Lunch Time
by Lucareeo
Summary: Shouto Todoroki usually sat next to his classmates during lunch but kept to himself. Lately he's been gravitating towards Izuku Midoriya and realized that there isn't anything wrong with wanting to make friends.


Shouto Todoroki didn't know when he began sitting closer to Izuku Midoriya during lunch. Before then, he would idly sit with any of the other students from Class 1-A and stay silent as he ate his food. That was about all he did but gradually he felt himself gravitating towards Midoriya and his friend group. He knew Iida well, the three of them sharing a secret on what had transpired during Hosu, but Todoroki found himself listening in on what Midoriya was running on and on about.

Everyone in class knew that once he opened his mouth to talk, there was no stopping him.

"So I was thinking, the best kind of strategy for our next training session would to utilize Uraraka's quirk to keep rubble and debris afloat, then get Iida to quickly move them to the side. It might be the best way to save civilians when there is a disaster site, but quirk doesn't really do much help when it comes to pulling out victims from rubble, but I can carry a lot of people so that might assist with-"

"MIDORIYA!" Iida's voice boomed across the table. A hand jerked from above towards the lunch tray in front of the startled boy. "Your food is going to grow cold if you continue talking! As excellent and worked-out your strategy sounds, I fear you will not be able to enjoy your lunch to the fullest!"

That seemed to make the green-haired student flush red in embarrassment. Midoriya muttered a thanks, taking his chopsticks and began eating the forgotten katsudon in front of him. Uraraka, who was sitting next to him, erupted in laughter as she patted his back. When Midoriya nearly chokes on his rice, he covers his face with an arm, his face glowing beet red.

For some reason, Todoroki found his own cheeks heating up at the sight.

-

Midoriya always eats katsudon, at least that's what Todoroki notices. Obviously, the dish was probably one of the boy's favorite meals. Eating it every day though… he must really love the pork cutlet bowl to not get tired of it. One of the days, Todoroki chooses to get katsudon instead of his usual, cold soba. Iida notices it as Todoroki's arm placement is lifted different because of the bowl. (Of course Iida would notice something like that.)

"Todoroki, you're eating katsudon too? Have you had Lunch Rush's before?" His eyes sparkle, Midoriya's interest in the meal was something marvelous.

Todoroki only nodded as he took a small bite of the pork, then adding rice into his mouth. It was… salty. He really wasn't sure how he felt about the meal. Though he's had it before, it wasn't really something he'd pick out of a menu if given the option. Midoriya's eyes were on him, watching the other eat the food like it was some sort of holy power up. He waited for some kind of response, Todoroki feeling his face heat up once more as he stared directly at Midoriya.

"It's good." It was a slight lie, but anything Lunch Rush made was always created with the most delicate of decisions in regards to nutrition and taste. It was admirable at best, but something Todoroki's palate wasn't truly impressed with.

"Right? Lunch Rush makes the best katsudon! Well… that's not true actually, I think my mom makes the best, but she doesn't really make it for me unless there's a special occasion." Midoriya began to laugh softly, Uraraka jumping into the conversation. Iida tried to interject about what his favorite dish was but the other two knew that it was beef stew. Todoroki only slowly ate the katsudon, moving the pork around to just eat the rice.

-  
With each passing day, Todoroki grew more and more anxious during lunch time. Sometimes he would eat his usual soba, sometimes he would try the beef stew. Uraraka would occasionally bring packaged mochi for all of them to share. Todoroki learned that everyone had a specific taste and normally chose the same kind of food each day.

Bakugou seemed to always have something spicy on his plate, normally he didn't have to look, Todoroki could smell the peppers from where he sat. Tokoyami always had some sort of apple product with him. It wasn't until he sat closer with Midoriya that he realized the classmates around him. Sometimes he would watch Hagakure eat her lunch, seeing the food disappear. That was always interesting to watch. There were days that Mina would get too much natto with her rice and Denki would have to sit far away from her since he couldn't stand the smell of fermented soy beans.

It seemed that Todoroki was becoming more and more aware of the classmates around him, more than he ever would sitting silently, minding his own business.

When Todoroki first entered UA, he never once thought about making friends. Acquaintances yes, connections, of course. After all, they were all going to be future heroes. At least that's what everyone's goals were.

To him it seemed like there was no benefits to becoming friendly with the other students. That's how he felt… until the Sports Festival.

If anyone asked, Todoroki would admit that Midoriya was probably his first friend. After that it was Iida, and then it started growing from there. It felt nice to have friends, people he could talk to (though he was more of a listener) and treat him like an equal. Growing up he was told he was superior to his siblings and everyone else. It never settled with him but it was all he knew as a child.

"Hey Todoroki!" He boy calmly looked up at Midoriya, knowing that the eye contact would start causing his face to rush.

"Here, you have some rice stuck on your cheek!" Midoriya offered a napkin to Todoroki, Uraraka smiling brightly.

"I bet you were eating the rice too fast, I totally feel you on that! Lunch Rush's rice is amazing!" She took picked up more rice with her chopsticks and ate it, grains of rice sticking to her face as well. While Iida had gone on a tangent about eating cleanly, Todoroki had taken the napkin and dabbed at the side of his mouth. He whispered a thank you, unsure if the boy was even able to hear.

Midoriya's smile suggested that he did.

-  
Lunch usually always happened after their hero classes, as it was the best kind of reward to the tired heroes-in-training. On this particular day, Midoriya was not at the table for lunch. Todoroki sat down next to Iida and across from Uraraka. They all knew that Midoriya was over at Recovery Girl's nurse office. It was apparent during the actual hero class that he would need some healing for his wounds. True to his person, Midoriya had overexerted his quirk once again in order to win the exercise. It wasn't too bad, after all Midoriya had gotten better at distributing his power. It was a last minute decision that led Midoriya to use his scarred hand, using it to propel himself upwards to catch Hagakure after she was blown off a building.

It was only a finger but considering how that hand was already badly injured before, it was enough for Midoriya to worry about it, checking it up with Recovery Girl.

Todoroki had felt ever so guilty about the scarred hand. He mentioned it to both Midoriya and Iida once before while they were all in Hosu's City Hospital. It seemed like every time he was involved hands would be broken. It gave him a bit of an upset stomach, his insides churning a bit.

"I'm going to check up on Midoriya." He stood up from his seat.

"We'll go with you-" Uraraka started to say but was interrupted by Iida clearing his throat. Iida gave her a hard stare, the girl's mouth shaping into an "o."

"We'll wait here Todoroki, let us know how he is okay?" She smiled at him and he returned a nod. Todoroki looked to his tray and realized that he had subconsciously bought himself katsudon that day. He took the tray with the meal and walked towards the hall with it.

Iida looked over to Uraraka and began whispering to her, her hands thrown into the air with excitement.

-  
Todoroki knocked out of politeness but opened the nurse's office door right after. He saw Midoriya sitting in a chair next to the bed with a finger bandaged. The boy's face lit up, illuminating the room when he saw Todoroki standing there. His face quickly fell in concern after realizing what Todoroki being inside the room could've meant.

"Todoroki what are you doing here? Did you get hurt during hero training?" Worry was infused within the words, causing Todoroki to chuckle softly.

"No. I brought you lunch, since I assumed the recovering would take up some of your stamina." Todoroki walked over with the tray, offering it to the other. Midoriya smiled brightly, taking it from him.

"You seriously came over to bring me lunch? Thanks Todoroki, I really appreciate it." He licked his lips, placing it down on the desk close to the wall. Todoroki stood there, almost awkwardly as he shuffled his feet.

"Is it… bad?" Todoroki asked, staring at the bandaged finger.

Midoriya shook his head as he broke apart his chopsticks and turned towards the other boy. "No, luckily it isn't! My hand had already recovered a lot since then and I actually didn't use as much power as I did back during the Sports Festival, so it was a bit strained but nothing tore." He explained, pulling a chair over for Todoroki. He politely sat down, keeping an eye on the boy's hand.

"It wasn't too bad, I guess I wasn't thinking when I moved. My legs were half in the air since I was jumping and I was scared that I wasn't going to make it to Hagakure if I didn't do something. To be honest it was a real tricky move too, I could barely see her!" He laughed earnestly, rubbing the back of his head. Todoroki only nodded as Midoriya held the bowl of katsudon in front of himself, taking a bite into the port cutlet.

"Did you already finish your food? I'm pretty sure lunch just started!" Midoriya had said with some food in his mouth. Todoroki smirked at that but shook his head.

"No, I came right over." Apparently that answer alarmed Midoriya, his eyes widening.

"Oh man, I'm sorry Todoroki! I didn't mean to make you miss your lunch, wait, here, take some!" Izuku used his chopsticks to round up some rice and pick up a piece of pork as well, offering it to him.

Todoroki stared at it, moving his head over to take a bite of the katsudon that was offered. It wasn't until after he began chewing that he could've just taken the chopsticks from the other's hand and ate it like a normal person. His face began to flush red, feeling shame and embarrassment rise up within him.

Midoriya didn't seem to mind though, he only took more katusdon in his chopsticks to eat himself. They were sharing chopsticks. For some reason, Todoroki could feel his chest tightened.

"I should be able to actually joining you guys soon, but I want to wait till Recovery Girl gets here so I don't just disappear on her, ya know?" Midoriya swallowed his food. Todoroki only nodded.

"I don't mind waiting with you." He managed softly, Todoroki's hands on his lap as he looked down to the tile floors.

Midoriya smiled softly, nodding his head. "Thanks, it's kind of nice huh?"

Todoroki looked up. "Nice?"

It was Midoriya's turn to look away, putting some rice in his mouth and mumbled. "Sorry, I don't know what I was trying to say…"

The usually stoic face broke out into a small smile. Todoroki offered a hand to take the katsudon bowl, Midoriya handing it over. He slowly took a few pieces of rice and pork, holding it out to Midoriya.

"I think I know what you mean."

Midoriya's eyes widen once again before he held a hand to his mouth, laughing a tiny bit. He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes darting everywhere in the nurse's office. "S-Sorry, I don't know what to say so…" Midoriya leaned over and took a bite of the offering, eating it with a smile on his face.

Todoroki chuckled at the sight, watching the other boy eat. After he swallowed, Midorya gave him a flustered grin, a hand rubbing the back of his neck.

In that moment, Todoroki realized that maybe the taste of katsudon wasn't so bad.


End file.
